Effects of atmospheric deposition on water quality in high alpine lakes of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Corbin JA and Woods SW. 2004. Effects of atmospheric deposition on water quality in high alpine lakes of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. University of Montana
This report focuses on the effects of atmospheric deposition on the water chemistry of high alpine lakes in Grand Teton National Park (GRTE) based on sampling of 12 lakes in 2002. Water quality data for GRTE high elevation lakes are from the 1985 Western Lake Survey (Landers et al., 1986), the 1999 resample of this survey (Clow et al., 2002) and from synoptic sampling conducted by Gulley and Parker (1986) and Williams and Tonnessen (1997). Monitoring of water quality in the high elevation lakes in GRTE is essential to elucidate long-term trends and determine the range of inter-annual and seasonal variability in sensitivity to acidification from atmospheric deposition. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: 1) to determine the status and trends in water quality of 12 high elevation lakes in GRTE with respect to atmospheric deposition impacts and 2) to use the relationships between water chemistry and watershed physical characteristics to predict which lakes in GRTE are most sensitive to acidification.